We try to stay out of the cultural/political arguments that have come out about the show in recent seasons, but one of the reasons it has been so fiercely defended by gay men is because it’s probably the truest representation of the gay male “scene” subculture, from drag shows to glory holes, ever seen on TV. And like The Village People back in the day, some of it goes over parts of the audience’s heads or is presented so wholesomely that you kind of forget what’s being mimicked here. Not that we’re defending the show from the criticisms; especially the ones coming from the transgender community.

Ben kind of got an easy win out of this one. All he had to do was yell and spew catchphrases to nail the impersonation. We thought Adore should have won it, because her Ben voice was eerily exact. Bianca did a pretty good job with Adore too.

She’s serving up some Diahann Carroll realness but we have to say, we were getting a sympathy headache just looking at her. She is pulled tight.

We tittered like teenyboppers when we saw him in person (at QVC headquarters, no less). Who do we have to kill to make sure we look like that at 74?

We’re walking briskly past this part because it was lame and a little painful to watch.

As it always happens at this point in a reality competition, the remaining challengers realize it’s down to the wire and their insecurities come out. Ben and Bianca sniped at each other, Adore had another I-can’t-do-this meltdown, Courtney continues to fail to be funny, and Darienne, well she was always bitchy.

Did we predict this girl’s story or what? It was always Drag Cinderella. She was destined to discover herself on camera because that’s exactly what Auntie Ru wanted. In fact, we fear that she’s peaked too soon and now that she’s polished herself up and discovered some world class drag skills, her story is largely done, which means she can go home next week, if that’s the way it shakes out.

But we’re getting way ahead of ourselves. For now, it’s a well-deserved win. We think it was probably the banjee girl look that nailed it for her. She said she was portraying all the girls in her school and you could sense that she was pulling that character up from someplace inside her. And that’s the other thing – she’s learned how to go from creating looks to creating characters. Her executive realness was a nice change of pace. And we loved the fact that her wig and her skirt were shaped the same for the eleganza look. That takes an eye.

Granted, she did have some help from Bianca.

We don’t know… it’s good, we suppose. But the eleganza looks like 90 percent of what she’s already worn on the runway. And the executive realness looks so … expected. The banjee girl looks just plain bad to us. Bianca’s got a lot of polish in her looks, but none of them have been particularly memorable or jaw-dropping. It’s her one big flaw.

Ugh. Over it.

Okay, Banjee Girl was not great, Executive Realness was neither executive nor real (discuss), and the last look wasn’t so much “Eleganza” as it was “float in a parade.” We get all the criticisms from the judges and don’t particularly disagree with any of them

BUT:

All three of Darienne’s looks were worse by far. By a MILE.

But once again, someone gets to stay in the game because she’s better at the lip synch. The only way we can accept that Darienne’s still in the game is if she goes home next week and doesn’t make it to the finals. It’s not that we hate her, but there’s so little variation in any of her looks. She’s reached the limit of what she can offer in the competition. We didn’t get that impression from Ben. We thought there was more to see.

So… Courtney, Bianca and Adore in the finals, yeah? Or will Darienne pull an upset and kick out either Courtney or Adore?

FUCKING BULLSHIT. Darienne’s looks were not only off the mark, they were horribly executed. She HAS to go next week.

anneland

Darienne looks like Oogie Boogie from ‘Nightmare Before Xmas’ in the third look.

Valerie

OMG that just made my whole WEEK! All she needed was a little bit of green makeup and she was set to go!

Latin Buddy

Adore was amazing. It’s going to come down to Bianca and Adore.

StillGary

agree!

LJCdoc

So true.

RussellH88

This season has been kinda “Meh” for me. Bianca’s been awesome, but it feels like this is a final 4 that doesn’t really deserve it. Courtney has really been coasting, Darienne peaked in episode 2, and Adore has the personality down but she really only seems to nail it when she frame something in her wheelhouse of 90’s pop culture. Her executive realness look was straight out of a JC Penny’s.

I think Ben really had more to offer than either Courtney or Darienne, but I think she may have been too close to a Jinkx type to get to the finals.

Glam Dixie

I gasped at how bad she looked in that executive realness look. I couldn’t believe she got praised for that which only makes it feel more and more like that are forcing her and her upward trajectory on us. And this is coming from someone who really likes Adore.

RussellH88

I like Adore too, but I think that if a previous challenge called for Executive Realness and Adore wore that, she would have ended up in the bottom. It reminds me way too much of when Milan came out in a suit.

Well, if she looked like crap, her outfit was ill-fitting and her pants were high waters, then it really WAS executive realness.

Glenn Gore

I cannot believe no one gave Adore shit for the length of her pants like they’ve done all season for the length (or lack thereof) of her other outfits. Those pants just did not work with the platform heels, which I don’t see an executive wearing ANYwhere.

Geoff Dankert

I don’t necessarily disagree with Adore for the win here, but: I thought for sure she was going to get read for wearing pants on the runway, like pretty much every single queen who’s ever worn pants on the runway with the possible exception of Milk. I guess if you wear a black bra under your boy’s shirt, it’s OK. And I guess if you’re Ru’s project, it’s OK too. As for the LSFYL: Darienne’s looks were dreadful, but when I saw Bendela come out in full “Her-name-was-Lola” drag again, I knew the judges were done. And she really did boot the lip-synch. This, hopefully, sets up Darienne against Courtney for next week’s LSFYL.

Montavilla

Adore was wearing a man’s suit, but that character was a woman. Like Alaska’s architect in Season 5.

Geoff Dankert

Yeah, I mean it wasn’t as bad as Milan’s Janelle Monae homage, but I feel like every time someone talks about wearing pants, the producers drop that “uh-oh” sound effect in and Ru cocks her head dramatically.

Robert Johnston

Alaska wore pants for her executive realness look and was also praised for it. It’s about making the character who wears the pants look feminine.

JoeyB

Right? They all kinda coasted (or should I say “sailed”) to the top. No one really seems all that hungry to win it.

StillGary

Yep, I believe they are buddies too — both hailing from the pacific northwest – I did like Jinx a lot but I like Ben even better — so now (like Cher) “If I could turn back time …”

Kent Roby

I talked to Jinx at length last week, and, yes, they know each other well, and Jinx was certainly pulling for her home-town sister. Incidentally, Jinx also said that New Orleans’ own Varla Merman has always been one of her biggest inspirations; holla!

nancymae

Other than being from the same city, how are Jinxx and BenDeLa alike?

RussellH88

Both tend to lean towards the campy/comedy range and both have very distinct characters that are older women and tend to default to those characters in their runway presentations.

VicD

Didn’t DeLa say at one point that Jinxx is her drag mother?

dragonbait

No, it’s the other way around. DeLa mentored Jinkx’s career and gave her her first big roles in productions that she produced. Jinkx is great, but DeLa is by far the more mature/seasoned performer and has helped younger performers out a lot.

PinkyAndNoBrain

Am I the only one who doesn’t like Adore? I mean, it’s fine if I am, but I just feel like unless it’s something in her wheelhouse (and you got that perfect: she rocks that 90s trashy-glam thing) she just whines and makes that baby- and/or stank-face and hopes Bianca will come over and fix everything. She’s charming and she’s cute, but it’s getting very old for me. It’d be more tolerable if I saw more effort on her part, but I’m honestly not. It’s reaching a point where it almost feels like she’s lucked into her wins. I don’t know, maybe I’m being unfair because I’d hoped DeLa would be in the top 2, but if Adore wins I’m not going to be happy.

MK03

Also, can we agree that the only reason Courtney is still here is because Santino wants to fuck her?

RussellH88

She kinda reminds me of a lesser version of Detox.

Eric Stott

and less creepy

Introspective

lesser for real cause Detox was way more charming and had more charisma in her left pinky press on nail than Courtney. But Detox coasted for too long and fell flat at the end in the same way I predict Courtney will.

JoeyB

Much lesser. Detox has personality and did have some really killer looks. Courtney is just so “meh.”

ScarlettHarlot

True, Detox had that stunning black and white look, she looked like she had jumped off the silver screen!

Eric Stott

I like Detox as a performer, and she also seems a nice person. When I said “creepy” I mean the plastic surgery- I can not help thinking “Why?”

MK03

Body dysmorphia is a hell of a thing to deal with.

Critifur

I see her more of a lesser version of Willam.

Matt

Willam and Courtney have done quite a few things together. On the now-defunct YouTube network The Stylish, I believe Courney and Willam were part of the Transfashionable series, as well as cameoing in other series. (And of course Willam had the Beatdown, which will outlast any other series The Stylish ever made!)

Linderella

Hell, I want to fuck her, but that doesn’t mean she should still be here.

StillGary

OMG! Even after the other judges reminded him that he tends to rip hasty hems. Santino has serious Outback Fever!

neemer5

…so does Chaz Bono.

Introspective

Darienne shouldve gone home based on her looks and her rather safe/bottom grazing performances for the last few weeks. Cannot believe that Ben with all her potential went home????

and jesus Adore is Mama Ru’s pet to the point of eyerolls. Love the transformation but it feels so textbook as to be planned. I think she’s taking the whole thing. I got $5 on it to be exact.

ScarlettHarlot

I think the producers definitely had a hand in this episode. Ben giving Adore the easy gemstone and being warned about it by Darienne, making Darienne look like a jealous bee-otch, but oh no wait, she was right, Ben was helping Adore to her own dertriment! Gasp! And then, and THEN….everyone says Darienne should go, so for drama they keep her around and kick off the nice person. Boooooooooo!

Introspective

am I going too far to call Adore the Anya of this season??

Glam Dixie

Oh somebody get some aloe for that burn!

MilaXX

She’s not that bad. Adore is still doing some of the heavy lifiting

Glam Dixie

Agreed, Anya had nothing going for her except looks and an inexplicable love affair with the judges.

True but Courtney’s wasn’t much better. Adore was the only one who got that right.

Glam Dixie

I was so disappointed about Ben De La going home. I was calling bullshit on that one. I thought all of their outfits minus Adore in her bangee girl look (whatever that is) were very sub par compared to outfits the queens produced/wore in previous seasons. It was only a so so episode.

RussellH88

Has anyone else heard the rumors going around Joslyn’s elimination?

Apparently after Trinity left, they removed the make-up geared towards darker skin tones, which left Joslyn in a bad situation when she was given the only black bride.

I don’t know if it’s true or not, but it would explain why someone who was had a decent make-up game turned out a bride who looked like a robot.

MK03

I can buy that. It kind of makes sense from a production perspective (clearing out the workroom bit by bit is easier than striking everything after it wraps) and it also works as a shit-stirring tactic.

Introspective

ooh. this would be something crazy & fucked up indeed were it true. I dont know though, because I thought that when Joslyn’s bride was in foundation alone, the color looked pretty much fine to my eye. and then when i saw the full face i snorted in horror at the skin tone’s unfortunate transformation into R2D2. i feel like a shit ton of shimmer was really Joslyn’s downfall there.

MilaXX

Agreed. that looks like choosing the wrong colors for eye shadow and contouring are what did her in. The foundation appeared to start out correctly. as a brown gal , I can safely say some of the few shades that don’t work on me are light grays & pastel blues. They make me look ashy. If Joslyn used shimmer versions of those shades I can see them not working.

Yeah, I think it’s a challenge unique to drag — because the ashy usually comes from the intense stage highlight color, that’s why girls like Latrice or Coco highlight in either the banana color or the orange, as much shit as they caught for it. But Maddox Madison on youtube somehow highlights with superwhite or fair powder or one of those, and makes it work without ashiness, not sure how.

MilaXX

Just checked her out. She does use white to highlight, but she also uses a lot of colors that as tan but really light.She doesn’t use a lot of shimmery color (not to be confused with glitter) which I think may have caused the R2D2 look that Joslyn’s bride had.

If you watch the scene again, though, she was really scraping to get enough foundation to put on him. But she didn’t have the right color powder to set his make up and it was clearly a much, much lighter shade. Not just her misjudging what kind of undertones she needed, because she was using a yellower rather than a pinker powder, she just didn’t have a powder that was dark enough to even come close to his natural skin tone. She made do with what was available, but it was pretty clear that she was scrounging for something to work on him.

MilaXX

I use a yellow toned set powder. Ben Nye in banana.

Dominy Marveux-Garbeau

THAT would make a lot more sense for the metallic skin tone. hmmmmmm….

Cambel

Somebody posted that they were at a viewing event hosted by Darienne and she said that Joslyn was in a bad situation because they had to use their own make-up and Nobody had the correct skin tone for an African American. And then she gets called out on that!?

parfumpoise

It’s definitely true… BenDeLa mentioned twice at her viewing parties!! The producers this season are some shady apes…

Nathan

Joslyn likes to do very light makeup around the eyes, and I think that would have translated poorly on a darker skinned person no matter what color the foundation was. Also, I find it hard to believe the producers forgot that one of the makeover guests was going to be black.

poklapy

That was, I’m pretty sure, the worst LSFYL I have ever seen. I don’t know if it’s the song or the performers or something else, but it was boring. I guess Darienne did better, but she wasn’t good. Dela looked kind of frantic, but I didn’t think she was much worse than Darienne. Certainly not bad enough to be sent home, considering how terrible Darienne’s performance was this challenge and for most of the past challenges.

RussellH88

The lip syncs in general have been pretty bad this season.

When you’re getting to stay in the competition after defaulting to air boxing at the line “I come back swingin'”, there’s a lack of serious lip syncing going on.

poklapy

Seriously. I have no idea what’s going on. Did queens just all become bad at lipsyncing last year?

RussellH88

The song choices have been pretty bad.

Did Absolut stop being a sponsor? I don’t remember them being as prominent this season as they’ve been in the past. That would explain why we’re getting HIV PSAs up the wazoo as opposed to vodka plugs.

Eric Stott

It appears there have been several sponsor changes, for what ever reasons.

Josefina Madariaga Suárez

Yeah, Absolut and Interior Illusions are not sponsors anymore, which is why (praise Jesus) Jeffrey Moran wasn’t a guest judge this season.

MK03

Thank heaven for small favors.

Linderella

OTOH, Formdecor is like French for tacky-ass cheap bullshit, so there’s the trade-off.

Eric Stott

I heard it as Foam Decor once – and had visions of styrofoam furniture

Kent Roby

Yeah, I miss having vodka plugs up the wazoo (but don’t we all?).

Eric Stott

I miss the Absolut guy…he was cute in a corporate way.

demidaemon

I actually heartily disagree. This has probably been the best crop of LSFYLs in a while. Dare we remember the awfulness of the first four lipsyncs of season 5 or the over-reliance on wig pulls in season 4?

Neil

Agreed. I’ve been particularly impressed with Trinity and Darienne. They seem to maintain the right sort of facial control to give the illusion of believable singing. To be fair to the queens, though, in a throw down contest it probably becomes difficult to maintain restraint, so it all becomes a bit jerky and overly energetic. Wigs fly, etc.

demidaemon

True. But, in those cases, no one’s wig just fell off during the performance (which I can accept is a possibility. For example, in this last lip sync, both Darienne’s and Ben’s hair pretty much died by the end). In season 4, every single one was an active wig removal, which 1) completely breaks the illusion 2) looks really desperate and 3) is an unprofessional and rather outdated performance move. Luckily, since then, we haven’t seen any of those.

Kent Roby

After seeing the Drag Race tour last week, it was extremely obvious that the numbers that fell flat were the few that were typical lip-synch ones, especially with most of the queens singing or doing comedy. I’m honestly not sure that I can really recall Jinx or Pandora or being that much about lip-synching even when on the show, and Bianca isn’t a lip-synch queen either. The LSFYL seems to be an old hold-over that doesn’t really apply that much any more.

demidaemon

True. However, when forced to lip-synch, Jinkx really pulled it out. I also would not want them to remove that part of the show, as it is a big part of drag culture and gives someone who had a bad week a chance to redeem themselves (remember Jujubee’s LSFYL to “Black Velvet”?). It also allows RPDR to distance itself from other reality TV shows.

Kent Roby

I’m not advocating removal of LSFYL, nor do I think that RPDR is at risk of being similar to any other reality show; however I feel that LSFYL should not be the final say in who stays or goes, especially when it’s used to eliminate the more-popular contestant (Ben) who was generally more successful in preceding weeks. Few would argue that this week’s elimination was justified, whether or not Ben’s LS was less successful than Darienne’s.

demidaemon

I understand what you are saying. I think it comes back around to this question, though: Should Ben have been in the bottom two? My answer is probably not. However, I think the general pattern of the show is that the challenge determines the bottom two and the lip sync ultimately determines the elimination. Does that sometimes allow a lesser competitor to stay? Oh yes. It has happened on multiple occasions. Rebecca Glasscock set the precedent for that. On the other hand, it has saved people who truly deserved to be there and make it farther when they screwed up for whatever reason. Raven and Jujubee set that precedent. I think if the lip synch was deemphasized any more, we would go straight back to performances similar to Honey Mahogany’s and Vivienne Pinay. And I do not want to see that sort of half-assedness on this show.

I do see what you are saying, though, that Ben’s body of work should have saved her. A similar complaint often comes up on Top Chef when someone who had been doing fairly well suddenly creates the weakest dish–for whatever reason–and is summarily eliminated over someone who has been doing poorly throughout or in the recent past. Is it “right” that the lesser chef gets to stay? Maybe. Maybe not. But the show has set the guidelines that the weakest dish is how eliminations are decided. In the same vein, RPDR has it set that challenge success or failure determines where you place, with the two weakest competitors getting to LSFYL. The stronger performer, in that singular performance, gets to stay. Is this “right”? Again, it all depends. Do you change the format of the show to save one competitor who probably deserves another chance but didn’t perform at her best in that key moment?

Kent Roby

WIth Drag Race, I think that the decision comes down to Ru alone, regardless of lip synch, and regardless of input from judges (except for Michele; I think Ru values her opinion above all others). Anyhoo, it is what it is. Sometimes we agree with decisions, sometimes we don’t, no biggie. We like to speculate and pontificate, but it ain’t cancer or war, so all is okay!

demidaemon

True. I definitely agree with you on the Michelle bit. When Merle was around, it did seem more balanced, but Merle wasn’t quite as exciting TV-wise (we can argue about the quality of Michelle’s input all day long, but she inspires very emotive reactions).

Thanks, though, for reading my essay on reality television and how rules and precedents are set. 🙂

Robert Johnston

This is very well put. However, the final decision is given with no explanation or debate, and if Ru wanted to keep someone for reasons other than the lip sync it would be very easy to do so, especially in cases like this where the lipsync wasn’t particularly disparate.

I mean, Milk staying over Trinity would have been clear manipulation, but the lip syncs in this episode were close enough and Ru could have let Ben stay for her potential and previous performances and few would have called foul.

demidaemon

True, yet, I think any further debate would just muddy the elimination set up. Occasionally, Ru does comment on the success or failure of a performance, but only when she believes it is a close call. In this case, I suppose she felt the choice was set.

pdquick

I thought the previous Ben/Darienne LSFYL was one for the ages. This one, not so much. Darienne exhibited a skill you can also see in Latrice’s “You Make Me Feel” lipsync: the precise use of facial expression to create an emotion and hold the focus on her, as opposed to moving and flailing about to attract the attention of the audience. Sometimes less is more. Darienne nailed it. I wanted her to go home based on the challenge, but for Ben to have won that lipsync would have been clearly contrived.

That’s why it would have been better to be Darienne vs Courtney. Especially since Courtney’s puppet show was not at all good, and her glitter eleganza was another big nothing of a dress. Courtney needed a scare, and if Darienne out-LSFYL’d her, oh well.

MK03

Na, the Vivienne Pinay/Honey Mahogany one was so much worse. At least Bendela and Darienne put some effort into it.

DLJoe

Good point. But Laganja vs Gia was tight up there next to them in my book.

MK03

Ooohhhhh, I was itching for a double elimination on that one…

ScarlettHarlot

Darienne should have been sent packing for that Barney and Friends on acid nightmare she wore for her first “look.” UGH.

RussellH88

Why is it that almost all of the big girls have some sort of skintight jump suit? Stacy had one, Madame LaQueer had one, Roxxxie had one, and Darienne had one.

Glam Dixie

Because they’re so figure flattering, duh!

Eric Stott

They make her look like an overstuffed couch with a CHEAP stretch slipcover.

RussellH88

She looked like 10 pounds of potatoes stuffed into a 5 pound nylon stocking on a bad acid trip.

Eric Stott

(on better judgement, removed)

MK03

The print reminded me of those textbook covers that were all the rage in 1998.

Delta had one, too, but hers was actually flattering. It was black and sparkly and she was compared to Ann Margret at the buffet. Because if there was one thing Delta was good at, it was dressing her figure.

Anthony Blackwood

Jiggly rocked one too.

Introspective

Girl!!!! this times a million cause a bell bottomed catsuit is bound to be unflattering on any body type, never mind darienne’s, and then the flammable fabric, in the eye searing color scheme? and then the grandma on a budget bubble wedges??

FUCK NO. how did she proceed to TOP 4 with that shit?????

OhSayNow

Ugh, seeing the still photographs really shows how terrible Darienne’s looks were. Ben’s were not great, but MUCH better than Darienne’s. Can we just wrap the season up now with a final 1 of Bianca. The thought of Courtney, Darianne and Adore making up 2/3 of the top three is just….blergh.

RussellH88

Yeah, Darienne’s Glitter Gunt is really on display.

Drunken Housewife

I feel really appalled by this. I felt that Ben de la Creme deserved to be in the top 3. I would have put Courtney in the bottom two with Darienne.

I think Bob Mackie saved Courtney by saying her eleganza look was the best of the bunch. It seems silly to disagree about tawdry stagewear with the amazing Bob Mackie, but I thought Courtney’s eleganza look was too basic. Just some gauze draped over a bra. Her banjee look missed the mark entirely, but I did think the executive realness was strong.

Poor Ben de la Creme. She really has been such a strong competitor and it feels very wrong that Darienne and Adore outlasted her. Kudos to Adore, though, for pulling this one out. Who would have expected it?

largishbearishAtlish

In another time and/or season Darrienne would have been sent home for the last look- if its about ‘skills’ then you should have know that (ugly) fabric would stretch under the weight of all those jewels.. Also she need some kind of support/wrap underneath is (thicker material), when she was sitting it was um…ackward (I can say that as a very big man)… she has show 1 style- the ‘potato dress’ for lack of a better term- yes gussied up but… even Courtney (who I honestly loved at the start, has a better eye/style than Darienne…). I really expected Darriene and Courtney in the final 2 (a month ago I have been saddened, now I don’t care about either…

Agreed on Courtney —
Darienne beat Ben in the lip synch, but Ben should never have been lip synching. It should’ve been Courtney and Darienne, with Courtney most likely staying — and getting some necessary shock therapy in the process!

Zaftiguana

It feels like sacrilege, and I’m a little fearful of the heavens opening and above me to smite me down, but…Bob Mackie was just wrong on this one. Sure, Courtney’s the only one who threw a little balanced asymmetry into the mix, I get it, great, but she wrapped some sequined synthetic schmatta around a bra and made her face up to look like the world’s most fabulous burn victim and called it a night.

Bianca’s was boring in it’s own way but well done, Bendela’s was a little crafty burlesque but cute and fun and challenge appropriate, and Adore killed it. Courtney’s was just meh. It deserved to be in the bottom two with Darienne’s saggy vag trainwreck, and Miss Courtney is long overdue to have to show her stuff in the lip synch after yet another disappointing-but-safe showing.

WESCOBear

I don’t get why Darienne keeps getting a pass – I guess Ru needs that behind-the-scenes bitchiness. Frankly I’m shocked that Ben didn’t make it into the final three.

ScarlettHarlot

I call shenanigans on the whole thing. The only reason Michelle has been so hard on Ben is because Ben serves up a more polished Michelle Visage than Michelle Visage does.

Introspective

Shade comes from Reading. Reading came first!!!!!!

Aerialgreen

LOL! ~ would upvote this more if I could

YourBaloneyDontGotNoSecondName

Excuse me for a moment. I need to go turn on some lamps.

Cambel

This has almost become the Michelle Visage Show this year, why even have the guest judges on if we never get to see them and only get Michelle Visage being bitchy for most of the episode.?

Linderella

Don’t throw things, but I kind of have to agree with the Sashay. I love DeLa, I really do, but as a person more than as a drag queen. Her looks skew very, very old–she’s what, 31? Her clothes and makeup look older than me, and I’ve got 20+ years on her.
OTOH, Darienne’s three looks were atrosh! (Sorry if that sounds like a quote from Laganja.) She squeaked by on the lip synch only. They were both pedestrian, but she did do a better job. Kind of breaks my heart to say all this, though.

ScarlettHarlot

I won’t throw things, but only because my wrist is already sore from shaking my fist at the judges.

necroromantic

Agreed. I didn’t like Ben’s lip synch style at all– the mouth movements reminded me of Detox (a negative, in my book) and her movements were so orchestrated and exact compared to Darienne who, yeah, fucking airboxed for one line, but seemed to feel the emotion a bit more. Kind of makes sense since Ben has been criticized for being super perfect.

Having said that, the song choices have been horrible this season. I’m just glad there hasn’t been any Miley, though..

Tomek

I agree.

Brent D. Stump

It just seems to me the set up is going to be Bianca and Adore at the end (the supportive older queen and the young one she has helped along the way.) That would be the finale with maximum emotional “impact.”

Kayceed

The All About Eve finale?

Brent D. Stump

You betcha… Fasten your seatbelts

Drunken Housewife

The more I think about this, the more disappointed I am in Bianca. With her world-class sewing skills, THAT is the best drag ball gown she could come up with? Honestly, what a letdown.

Think back to the kinds of runway Raja gave us. If Bianca had just one tenth of Raja’s imagination, we’d be in awe.

This season April Carrion was, in my opinion, the most innovative, but sadly her lack of singing and acting got her axed far too soon. I would have liked to have seen more of her runway looks. April could have given us something to enjoy at this ball.

I am disappointed by each and every one of them, but the most by Bianca, because she’s so good at sewing. Bitch should have given us something crazy-fabulous.

People, I live in the Castro, and I see more fabulous drag on the sidewalks any weekend than I saw in that “glitter ball.” (Despite what Honey Mahogany may have claimed, it’s not a bunch of queens in earth-toned caftans here). They should all be lashed and made to repent… Bianca the most.

RussellH88

It may depend on how much sewing Bianca did for her other looks.

She may have defaulted to a style she can whip up easily to give herself some time to work on the other two looks.

Introspective

when you bring up Raja, forget about it. NONE of these queens still in it have her imaginative approach to drag. full stop. Maybe if Milk made it this far but I dont even know about that…

as for April, I agree she went home too soon. Alas, just like Ben apparently…

StillGary

Gotta agree — for creative I would make Raja the High Priestess above Sharon Needles and one of my absolute favs Manilla! Now, Bianca Bianca is one clever and talented queen but we’ve seen a lot of Chiquita Banana from her!

neemer5

I can see Adore having potential to slay. She’s the only one whose runway rivals Raja’s. And she IS creative. Like the judges said: she wears the outfits, the outfits don’t wear her. Unlike Courtney, for example. Imagine if Adore had Courtney’s financial and professional resources.

‘Becca’lise Deveaux

ADORE’S runway rivals Raja’s? I’m going to have to respectfully but adamantly disagree on that one.

Aerialgreen

I imagined the reply from ‘Becca’lise in the talking heads format of the show… while doing a *gasp* expression 🙂

neemer5

I should have clarified: Her runway presence rivals Raja’s. Girl can do the walk.

Eric Stott

Raja wasn’t afraid to do something outside of her comfort zone if the challenge needed it. Milk just dug in her heels and gave us small variations on one look.

Andrea B

This episode broke my heart. Remember that little idiot, Laganja, prancing around feeling herself all over? My gawd, can you imagine the show we would get if Bianca would look in the mirror and have that same reaction, instead of just seeing a series of technical challenges to be overcome? Adore has no technical skills, and she won this challenge because she looked at that dress form and saw sparkles. Bianca saw only where the darts and seams and binding were supposed to go. She looked just like what Bob Mackie said she did, a mother at a bar mitzvah. Ru is dying to put a crown on that stupid child’s (Adore’s) head and Bianca is doing nothing to stop it.

Glam Dixie

I think that Bianca may fall into the extremely talented but not super creative category. Give her instructions and she will follow them and execute them very well but ask her for a creative vision and it’s a bit ordinary. I still think she deserves to win it all. Not everyone can be Raja.

Andrea B

I think she deserves to win it, too. I’m not as sure that she will any more.

PinkyAndNoBrain

I totally agree . . . but at the same time I’m sorry, but I will always be a Bianca Del Rio apologist. I don’t care if she comes out in literally the same dress every time from now on (if I get to choose, I’d pick that black-and-white number from episode 7), because it will look amazing and she’ll still be miles above any of the competition. I totally get the people who are disappointed in her lack of versatility in fashion and the people who think she’s a bitch, but for me there will never be anything but overwhelming adoration, unless she . . . I don’t know, punches Joslyn in the face or eats a puppy onstage or something.

Also I love her face. I don’t care if I’m the only one, I think she’s so pretty

‘Becca’lise Deveaux

It’s those DIMPLES! So cute.

PinkyAndNoBrain

I was a little concerned at how attracted I am to her in and out of drag, since I’ve always considered myself a straight woman . . . but I’ve decided that dimples like that transcend all. Episode 10’s Untucked was very depressing. XD

‘Becca’lise Deveaux

Same situation here! I think my husband’s starting to get concerned about how much I gush over Bianca (IN drag!)

Carrie

Agreed. I love Bianca with the fire of a thousand suns.

miatamam

Don Rickles is so damn cute in drag. And I love her.

hughman

I squee’d when I saw you post here.

Drunken Housewife

xxxoo Incidentally Lola asked after you last night.

Caity

Check out April Carrion’s instagram. She posts pictures of the looks she had planned for each challenge. They are GORGEOUS.

MilaXX

Courtney, Adore & Bianca for final 3. I want Bianca to win, but I think it’s going to Adore.
Darriene’s looks were bad, but I swear her Music Exec business look reminded me of Pebbles however since she is currently suing VH-1 over the TLC biopic I doubt anyone wanted to name drop.
I agree Ben should have stayed over Darriene, but I’m not bothered since I didn’t see either in the final 3.

Introspective

off topic but isnt Pebbles batshit crazy for this lawsuit??? im like, ok bitch you made TLC buy back for $1m per letter, after fleecing them out of the profits of their first two albums to the tune of $20 million at least, and now youre trying to sue for a retelling of what has clearly been in the public record for about 20 yrs already?? girl bye.

MilaXX

Yes! and the thing is, her business practices were known for years. None of what was said in the biopic was new info. Give her a whole stadium of seats.

StillGary

Sad to see Ben go! What a class act and adorable person! I’m thinking Adore has it sewn up — I don’t think Ru is going to crown another comedy queen right after Jinx Monsoon. There hasn’t been a PYT — diamond in the rough since Tyra — yeah, I’m just bringing her up to mess with you all!

Eric Stott

I like Bet a lot, but I think what he does isn’t exactly Drag as much as it is Performance. He gives us the character of an attractive slightly mature woman with retro tastes….sort of a kinder gentler Dita von Tese. All very nicely done, but he never had any one look which made me go WOW!

Having said that, I bet he’s real doll on stage.

Horacio

I never really cared for Ben, so I’m glad she’s gone. It would have been better if Courtney had gone first but whatever.

I actually like Darienne a lot. She’s bitchy and kinda mean, but at least as far as her “feud” with ben is concerned I agreed with Darienne: Ben was getting SERIOUSLY obnoxious with her whole “has anybody else won twice? No? Well what do you know about that!” and “Why am I in the team with all the non-performers?”. The only reason it didn’t get worse was because Darienne and then the judges shut it down right away.

Also I think Darienne has been getting shafted a lot in the challenges. The only time I can think of that she REALLY deserved to be in the bottom was in the makeup commercial challenge. Every other time she should have been safe and last episode I think she should have won. Her drag daughter looked better than Joslyn and Adore.

I agree her runway is beyond boring but I think she deserves more credit than she’s getting.

Carrie

Darienne should have been in the bottom and probably gone home for the 90’s rap challenge. Her look and her rap were both HORRIBLE and somehow she got by because she won the reading mini-challenge? DeLa won the mini-challenge this week but it didn’t help her much.

Horacio

Right, the rap challenge… She sucked at that and though I don’t remember her look I think it’s safe to say it was boring. Yep, shoulda gone home for that one. I had forgotten all about it.

trapperkeeper

“Big girl walkin’ down the dirty street….with dirty feet” is still in my head a month later, I’ll give Darienne that!

Carrie

Oh God, it makes me cringe just thinking about it.

Carriganak

I was really shocked that Darienne stayed. I sort of figured most people didn’t last more than three lip syncs unless their competitor also had three lip syncs. It’s really baffling because it definitely feels like the episode was building up to Darienne’s elimination, and she really did flounder on the stage. I do feel like DeLa would have had a little more to offer in the final episode, especially given the preview on the LOGO app.

Oh well, I’m sure DeLa will be in All Stars 2.

demidaemon

No, Jujubee beat Tatianna at three LSFYLs to Tatianna’s measly 2. Coco versus Alyssa has been the only example of 3 vs. 3. Darienne now joins the exclusive club of queens who have lived through 3 LSFYLs.

The sheer ugliness of Darienne’s first look helps distract from just how bad her second one is, which I think may be the worst look I have ever seen on the show, at least when it comes to concept, character and drama. Why be a drag queen if that’s what you wear?

Sad to see Ben regress so much this week in her worst habits (dressing old and, in the words of Sharon Needles, ‘tired ass showgirl’) Wish we’d had something like her RuPaul look for the ‘eleganza’ look this week.

Bianca’s last look = so expected. The style/sameness of her gowns make sense when you think of her of a comedian – she needs to look glamorous and impressive on stage (she wants the audience laughing at her jokes, not the fact that she is a dude in a dress) but it can’t be so dramatic as to distract from the rest of her performance.

Anyone else wish Trinity had been there this week (think of what she would have come up with compared to Darienne!)?

Introspective

Trinity had the most SICKENING drag. Yes her talent was rough around the edges but weekly that girl would come on the runway looking fucking flawless. Definitely wish she would have lasted long enough for this challenge.

Kayceed

Trinity definitely had a showmanship in her drag looks that I miss.

Eric Stott

Trinity knew how to make herself look GOOD

Chartreusite

Trinity definitely had the strongest runway of this season; I really hope she gets asked back for all-stars because as weak as she was in performing challenges the back half of the episode was ALWAYS a blast to see because of her.

WESCOBear

What was it that Michelle Visage said? “Executive realness – if you work at Jiffy Lube.”

matica

I liked the mini challenge, but other than that, this was my least favorite episode of the season. I think Darienne’s looks were the worst by far, but none of them were that great. I was especially disappointed in Bianca, who should have been able to do better than that. I’m starting to wonder if she really can make any other kind of dress.

I’m sorry to see Ben go. However, I think she clearly lost the lip synch; her dancing was not right for the song at all. At the same time, I don’t think Darienne did so great that there would be rioting in the streets if Ben had stayed. Plus, Darienne did so bad in the main challenge. I think Ru should have done a double elimination. It’s pretty clear at this point that neither of them have a chance of winning the whole thing, and it would have been a nice callback to their previous battle when nobody went home.

MarTeaNi

Darienne’s last look is terrifying. All I see is a steadily droopping vuvla covered in pubic sparkles. It’s like weird sci-fi porn costuming.

LC3203

You just described one of the aliens in Starship Troopers.

Aerialgreen

So I take the alien made it work unlike Darienne 🙂

largishbearishAtlish

call me a fashion nube, but what is the origin/meaning of ‘banjee dress’? asian street kids? or…wasn’t sure what they were telling them…some sort of quasi asian street punk? (whatever it is Darriene had no idea either)

Banjee is a style term that has been appropriated by a number of different street culture contingents at this point so you’re going to get a scattered definition or two no matter what. For the traditional definition watch ‘Paris is Burning’ and for a more contemporary take on the idea watch Sharaya J’s music video, BANJI. Hope that helps.

FinnSteve

Ben leaving now is the best thing for her with the “Pandora Boxx” edit. Great, funny queen (who is MUCH better in other youtube performances than on the show (Never Been to Me is a hoot). By getting cut “unfairly”, he is able to steal the Joselyn Foxx “Miss Congeniality” thunder because it was time for Joselyn to go and Ben still felt like he had more to offer.

One thing about Ben, too, is that he stayed committed to his character. Ru and Michelle (and the producers) seemed to want to kill the “terminally delightful” and bring in more of the naturally droll and funny “real Ben”. He did it for the interview and was successful, but the polka dots on the executive and the showgirl for the dripping with jewels put him back in the “seen it” category for the judges.

BTW, I met Adore last night at the SF Viewing party. She is TALL and absolutely sweet with absolute star power. Her problem most likely was she didn’t have the money to have as much costumes and wigs as other queens, so came across as unpolished. She is great

Karen Belgrad

Am I the only person who had no idea what a Banjee Girl was? (and I’ve seen every episode of this show ever!… and read every TLO blog ever!)

jtabz

My viewing buddy and I also had no clue. And we still had no clue after the mishmash of interpretations that came down the runway.

Karen Belgrad

From urban dictionary: “a young Latino or Black man who has sex with men and dresses in thuggish urban fashion”

GM

I also had no idea what that meant. What a weird description, I did not read that from ANY of the looks!

No shame, kitten! (I’ve seen it repeatedly…somewhere between obsessively and too much.)

jungguy

Watch Paris is Burning for a definition. Urban Dictionary is wrong

Dandesun

The ‘banjee girl’ look for each really came down to how old they are and what eras they seem to have an affinity for, didn’t it? Darienne was going to an early 90s rave trying to invoke Lady Miss Kier. Courtney went 90s grunge girl. Adore was spot on. Bianca went Upper East Side very well preserved lady. Dela was full on 40s pin up.

Raja and Manila remain the top spot as far as creative outfits go and Yara Sophia is up there, too. Yara was way more avant but all three clearly were very creative individuals that could bring so many different things to their looks. Bianca can sew the shit out of things but she obviously has her silhouette and sticks with that… and I can’t blame her (Ru doesn’t really change up her silhouette either, nor does Lady Bunny, you know?) And I did find myself disappointed in Bianca’s jewel extravaganza eleganza look because it was so. similar. to the Mother of the bride look she had last week. The same big posy in her hair and everything.

I’d have thought that with her sewing expertise she could have blinged the fuck out of that dress since Bob Mackie was there. I mean… come on. It’s Bob Mackie! My love of all things sparkly comes directly from him!

Sad to see Dela go. I did think that Darienne’s looks were way way way worse. Wow.

But “banjee” is a very specific term. More so than sewing, the queens need to memorize “Paris is Burning” before appearing on this show. Lady Miss Kier will NEVER be considered Banjee. EVER. Everybody except Adore really messed it up.

Dandesun

You’re absolutely right. (This is what happens when you try to post before running an errand, you leave out sections of thought inadvertently.) What I meant was that each queen seemed to take the term ‘banjee’ and alter it to something specific for them, ignoring what it actually was.

Basically, it would have been the same if the criteria had been ‘Goth Glamour!’ and someone came out in Steampunk, and someone came out in Dieselpunk, and someone came out in full on Lolita (not Goth!Lolita, either) — none of those are Goth. This was a similar thing. The criteria was specific and only one person actually did it. Everyone else did a variation of their own personal favorite theme or went with ‘tough chick from’ either rave or grunge periods.

So, my bad for not proof-reading and forgetting to insert the bit about them arbitrarily deciding that ‘banjee’ is a fluid description of a style when it’s not.

All that said, some of the queens said “banshee girl” referring to their look.

Eric Stott

and some of them were pretty scary

necroromantic

The Kardashian certainly did. Can she just never come back on this show?

understateddiva

lol what was that about? she was there like two episodes ago. Did someone cancel?

Zaftiguana

I think Dela’s banjee girl look worked if you think of it in terms of “Banjee Girl; The Musical!” In fact, I think just adding “The Musical!” to each of the challenge titles would bump her results up a level. Think about it.

Eddie Verdonk

The story surrounding Bianca and Adore has been forming since The Snatch Game. Hell, even before that. If Ru does a finale lip sync between Bianca and Adore, I’ll squeal with delight. It would be a brilliant way to end the series, asking the question of whether or not the student will surpass the master.

I’m apathetic toward both Courtney and Darienne. I have been for awhile. BenDeLaCreme had no shot at winning this season. A campy, housewifey queen from fucking Seattle was NOT going to win the season directly after Jinkx Monsoon’s victory. DeLa is not enough drama to make the top four interesting – a combination of Darienne and Bianca is. The only reason DeLa got axed is because she didn’t have a chance in hell at winning the season. She had every right to stay last night. Darienne’s lip sync was only marginally better, while her looks were drastically worse.

With that said, I doubt Darienne will be surviving the lip sync next week. The judges (and the viewership, I imagine), are quite done with Courtney as well. Note the way Courtney had a retort for EVERY criticism the judges threw at her. She’s pretty, but her defensiveness and arrogance “…is UGLY.”

Cart either Courtney or Darienne home next week, I say!

tetisheri

At my house, we decided that Darienne is the Phi Phi of this season.

MK03

She’s nowhere near as toxic as Phi Phi was. You really have to go out of your way to reach that level of nastiness.

It’s definitely going to be Darienne who gets the axe. For all Courtney’s faults, she really succeeds at the major “Ru” challenges in the game (musicality, music video, talk show) and I think she’s got a beeline for the top three. I’ve found, as well, that when a queen gets a particular amount of edit heat in one week (a la Joslyn or Milk), they tend to go home the week after. There’s a setup and an arc, and this week is the setup for Darienne’s sashaying, I think.

trapperkeeper

The puppet mini-challenge was by far the best part of the show. Adore’s Dela voice had me rolling, and Ben’s Bianca was spot on. They were all pretty funny, and I enjoyed laughing through all of it.
Totally agree about the painful musical number…Bueller? Bueller?
Okay, I love Adore. I could watch her for hours. But the only reason she won the main challenge was because everyone else’s looks were so…meh. Her Banjee girl look was great because she sold the character. But the executive realness look?! I did not get all the praise for that. It was a generic, ill-fitting dark pantsuit with a cheap looking wig and glasses. Girl, you are better than that safety net of an ensemble. The eleganza look was just alright, and I appreciate her attention to detail (the wig & skirt shape mirroring each other), but again it was her ability to sell the character that won it. I mean, she hot glued some rhinestones to a simple bodice she already had. And I know 6 year olds who can make a gathered tulle tutu. I call B.S. to the judges for letting that slide, and for rewarding it with a win on top of that.
Darienne still being in the game is laughable, but I think we all know Ru needs a big girl representing for a change this late in the game. Dare I say a little Drag Race Affirmative Action? I’ve been over Courtney for a month, I’m glad she was finally read a bit by the judges.
I miss the personalities of Joslyn, Trinity, etc. They provided some great looks and funny quips that are missing with the remaining girls.

Chartreusite

Agreed on Adore’s win…it was probably one of the better performances, but this was a surprisingly weak challenge output this week.

Dominy Marveux-Garbeau

Off topic: Someone please explain to me how to lip synch the hell out of a song that you can’t relate to or secretly loathe…it must be SO challenging.

DLJoe

Well I used to be a musician, so trying to have energy for a song you hate IS possible. It just grating as all hell.

Courtney should’ve been in the bottom instead of DeLa and Darienne should’ve gone home. DeLa is much more interesting to me than both of them and she put more effort in her looks.
I LOVE Bianca and her clothes are flawless, but she’s just not that stylish.
My top 3: Bianca, Adore and Courtney.

trapperkeeper

I’ve been trying to put my finger on it, and you hit the nail on the head: DeLa is interesting. Maybe her look gets a bit trite, but Ben in and out of drag is layered, multi-dimensional, and interesting.
Courtney is kind of pretty, end of sentence. Nothing more. And there’s nothing more boring than that.
Darienne had potential, but has proven over and over to be a one-note, and a bitter one at that. No vulnerability from her or Courtney.
If DeLa was going home anyway, it should have been a double elimination.

Eric Stott

Courtney can act- her pissed off executive routine was better than the lame outfit she was wearing.

1) Very excited to be seeing the Reunion episode live at the Ace Hotel next week! 2) Haven’t seen all of this episode, but died when Darienne’s executive look was called out as “Accounts Payable”. MORE TRUE THAN YOU KNOW. 3) Adore’s executive look reminded me of that focus Alaska’s executive look had. This is why Ben’s was cringe worthy – costume over realness. That’s what Veronica in 1986 would wear in an Archie Comic for hanging out at one of Mr. Lodge’s business parties. It’s drag but you gotta know what you are being called to do. 4) Who would rather die than have Bob Mackie declare your outfit dull? 4) I’ve defended Bianca’s boat necks and here’s where it got her in trouble. 5) Is Courtney the shopping queen? 6) I can’t believe Ben went home over Darienne.

Chartreusite

I always feel like Bianca’s weakness is her preference for floor length or ankle-length garments with a relatively simple skirt; she’s worn on-the-shoulder before, but she’s yet to wear anything that hasn’t looked conservative (with the exception of this challenge where she was kinda forced to). I’m wondering if it’s an age or personal aesthetic thing? I know Bianca’s not about the sexiness in any way, shape, or form, but she does have less demure costumes out of show.

understateddiva

Yes, Ben’s interpretations were just off. The only person who’d wear pink polka dots and a pencil skirt to work would be Delta Burke on Designing Women, and that’s the opposite of realness. Actually, if she had done a funny play on Michelle Visage for her banjee girl look, she would have KILLED. I don’t know why she didn’t try it.

Sad that Ben is gone. I actually had a hard time telling if she was doing well in the lip sync because the camera lingered so much on Darienne that it was obvious Ben was going home, regardless of performance. I suppose Ben seemed more frantic.

Also I was under the impression that next week was finals but maybe I’m confused.

It’s down to Adore and Bianca (obviously/ of course) and I’m ok with that but I wanted to see what Ben would have pulled out for finals. Boo.

Cambel

You can always tell who is going home, the camera will spend 30 seconds on the person who is going to win, then flash for a half a second to the loser. That way Ru doesn’t have to explain why she sent the person home.

Chartreusite

Is it bad I was pleasantly surprised to see Ben gone? I do think she performed overall better in the challenge but her lipsync was manic in a very forced way (she still kinda leans on the persona’s energy to get her through) and she was someone who I could feasibly see winning the fan vote over Bianca or Adore; Darienne is in no way a contender to win (although she did do better in the lipsync than Ben Dela), she’s not going to win, so it’s a huge load off to have a pretty well-rounded f3 (cause I do think it’s going to be Courtney, Adore, and Bianca) all with queens I’d be pretty alright with winning. Ben Dela could make a great a Miss Congeniality so there’s that as well.

I’m ecstatic Bianca is the first queen to make it to the music video without EVER being in the bottom grouping, let alone lipsyncing. I thought for sure she would be divisive and get a shoddy edit but she’s getting cushioned pretty hard by production; that untucked moment was much needed and it was cool to see her be sentimental without being maudlin, which is in it’s own way the most realness untucked has ever seen.

AnotherG

Pssst: Tyra Sanchez never had to LSFYL until the final battle with Raven. She may have been in the bottom 3 at some point, but never the bottom 2. If Courtney makes it to the end without a LSFYL, she will be as well, though she’s definitely been in the bottom 3 multiple times.

Chartreusite

I meant Bianca is the first to never have been in the bottom AT ALL in the competition, at least going by wiki…she’s always been safe at the very worst. I do remember Tyra and Alaska 😛

De La- So I’ve not been a huge proponent of De La in this competition but I think she really got thrown under the bus this week. I’m not saying I thought any of the looks were great, but they certainly weren’t the messes Darienne sent down the catwalk. I appreciated her effort at the banji girl look and the attempt to serve some body but it just wasn’t her thing and you could tell. It was regulation white girl trying to rock Baby Phat weirdness. Her last look was very her (to her detriment) but I thought the color really suited her, that should have been her pallet for her look had she made the finale.
Darienne- Okay, so secretly loved her first look although the shoes were horrifying and it had nothing to do with banji girl anything. It was just so hilariously off-the-mark and raver-disco-gone-wrong and campy that I died laughing at her working it so confidently. Anyways, it still wasn’t good and the rest of her performance this week was generally horrifying (drooping jeweled vaginas y’all). She either needs to get that bitterness in check or prepare to sashay away.
Courtney- In a season where everyone seems to be either horribly insecure or totally full of it, this one leads the pack on hubris (I wonder if she knows that word…) and it just isn’t always mitigated. She’s talented and capable and at times very polished…. I say at times because she also defaults to being “pretty” or just plain sticks to her guns when they aren’t as big or fabulous as she thinks (see also: banji girl look). I thought she was the only one who could rival Adore visually this week and that was only because her eleganza look at movement and a tiny bit more energy to it than the rest. Even then I didn’t think she would win. Were the judges about to reward an executive look that’s basically her musical character outfit only drabber? I think not.
Bianca- I appreciated how hard she tried with the banji thing. It served a weird sort of Rita Ora meets Grey Gardens thing that I didn’t totally hate, but I also just don’t think that it’ll ever be in her wheelhouse to do a look like that. I thought the blues she chose for her other two looks were great, but the executive didn’t stun and the eleganza was a retread. Her lack of versatility is finally showing as her Achilles’ heel but she’s so polished as a performer that she might still work around it. I personally think it’s silly not to demand something more of her visually when she’s acquitted herself in all other capacities.
Adore- I mean, we all knew she’d win this week and get her Drag Ugly Duckling >>>>>> Swan Queen moment. That being said, I’m really happy for her and I do think that what TLo said about her ability to serve characters (rather than just looks) being developed as one of her saving graces is true. I mean, consider her Honey Boo Boo disaster in her first week, which she herself admitted she had to sell the fuck out of in order to get declared safe even at that point. Being able to better execute her visions but retaining that performance and charisma makes her a much bigger threat than she’s been previously. Her arc could be over but I just can’t imagine a top 3 without her livening things up into a “party”. Wouldn’t the final 3 feel rather dated with Courtney, Bianca, and Darienne?

StillGary

On a side note, I’m really happy to finally have “sport!” … just wish there were trading cards!

I thought it was sort of charming and interesting! She tried so hard too.

Caity

FINALLY I can feel validated that I agree with Adore’s win. This wasn’t just a sewing contest.

DeLa… Judges were on crack or something. Santino defending Courtney’s eleganza as “finessing” was laughable because she basically did what Adore did in the very first challenge.

AnotherG

I was really hoping Ru would light a fire under either Bianca or (and more likely) Courtney. I think they spared Courtney (multiple times) to keep things from being too Bianca-obvious. (They failed at that, though)

And more to the point, it makes perfect sense to have Darienne in the top 4, despite costing us Ben Dela: she’s the easiest one for Ru to send home next week. Ru can keep whoever she wants in the top 3. Unless she pulls a total upset and has Bianca and Courtney LSFYL against each other.

I can see it working out in multiple ways; this set up does allow for multiple plausible narratives.

Patrick Cleary

Adore had no idea how to make a tutu, even with Bianca’s help, and then pulled off that look? Producers to Bianca: “We had people do Jinxk’s makeup last season, so it’s time for you to sew!”

Jeremy Thomas Porta

Darienne is going home next week for sure. By all the goddesses of drag, it must be so. There’s no way that bitter shady elephant heifer deserves top three.

Mary Nease

Um, Darienne certainly bitter and shady and deserves to go, but can we please leave her size out of it? The “elephant heifer” remark was totally uncalled for.

Jeremy Thomas Porta

Well, it’s because she’s a shady elephant. Like from the animal challenge and Bianca’s comment during Untucked.

Mary Nease

The elephant comment would be ok in the context that she actually dressed like an elephant. The heifer part was an unnecessary addition that made the criticism about her size in addition to her bitchiness. Size is not a good thing or a bad thing, especially in the context of drag queens. It’s a descriptor like hair or eye color. So don’t be shady about that, especially when Darienne gives us so many legitimate things to read her for.

Eric Stott

I’m wondering when we’ll get Darienne’s Confessional Story, or a phone call from home. It’s sort of predictable on this show that when a character gets the bitch/villain edit they’ll eventually get their tearful moment: My Mother Died(or)has never seen me in drag(or)-I was teased in school-I’m going to propose to my boyfriend etc. etc. etc.

Critifur

Size is a good or bad thing. Darienne is clearly, morbidly obese, and it is a bad thing. I wouldn’t treat her any differently or badly because of it, but it is very much a bad thing. I am tired of people pretending something doesn’t exist. Being that overweight is not good, and it certainly is not visually appealing to most people. Physical signs of disease are just plainly off-putting.

Mary Nease

And it is 100% irrelevant to criticize her for her weight when critiquing her drag. In drag, big girls can actually use their size to their advantage if done well. Like I said, whether you’re sizeist or not, you just come off as an asshole reading her for her weight when she gives us so many legitimate skill-driven things to criticize her for instead.

All I can say is that I did not care for Adore early in the season but now I love her! I really liked Bendela, too. That said, I’m Team Bianca all the way!

neemer5

I used to say that unless someone advances wearing a garbage bag on the runway, the show can’t be fixed.
Well, Darienne wore a mylar balloon. Close enough.

Miss wks

Bendela had me at the fake fingernail teeth for Bianca’s puppet….

Glenn Gore

It’s more than painfully obvious that this episode was not decided at all on who “won” the challenge at all. The judges have been ragging on Ben all season for looking like an old woman, and not “giving them anything different”, so they let him go, despite the ridiculousness of who actually had the worst looks by far in this particular challenge. I thought Ben did quite well in the lip-sync as well. This episode is a tragedy, Ben may not deserve to win the whole thing, but he definitely deserves to be in the finals over Darienne and her bitchiness & shade.

Linderella

The second DeLa walked out in that tired-ass showgirl costume for the third or fourth time, I knew she was Bottom 2. Once revealed that her LSFYL competition was Darienne, I knew it was curtains. I love DeLa, not trying to trash her, but she looks like a little old lady, and she’s poor at lip synching. She’s a sweetheart for sure, and would be fun to hang out with on a Saturday night, but she’s not at Next Drag Superstar level. Don’t get me wrong, I think Darienne is equally bad, but she did give the better lip synch.

Cambel

How do we know she’s bad at lip syncing? They never leave the camera on her long enough to tell.

Linderella

At the beginning of the second verse, she clearly didn’t know the words for a beat or two. But I actually meant the way she moves. A good chunk of lip synching is how one dances about, and she’s sadly clunky. Though I didn’t foresee DeLa making it to the Top 3, and I think Darienne is long past her expiration date, I still think Darienne gave the better lip synch. That’s the only thing I’m basing my opinion on. If Ru had done the “body of work” thing, then DeLa would still be there, at least for another week or two.
Of course, I’m STILL steaming about April’s unfair early exit, so…this is all very grain-of-saltish.

Eric Stott

DeLa called it Eleganza, but I thought Circus Girl.

Cambel

BORING! Can you imagine how easily Raven, Alaska, Manila, etc.. would walk away with the win this season??

1. I have liked Bianca, but when she WAAAY over reacted to Ben saying she sailed through it made me think that all the gossip about her being set up to win because she was a friend of Ru’s was true. It was so over the top the reaction doesn’t make sense otherwise.

2. Were there any guest judges on this episode? Gee, I couldn’t tell since, as always lately it became the “Michelle Visage Show” and was all about her looking pissed off and and basically being annoying. Ru, if you’re not going to rein her in, then just give her the whole show so we can all stop watching.

3. I’m tired of the B.S. excuse that Ben went because they wanted to see the “real” Ben and not a character. Pretty much every successful drag queen before this show came out was a character, Lypsynca, Coco Peru, Varla Jean Merman, Lady Chablis, Hedda Lettuce, etc… So suddenly we have, once again, Michelle Visage being annoying yelling “Stop with the character, be vulnerable,” as if she is that judge Kara from American Idol a few years ago who didn’t care about their singing, just their backstory. Michelle, if I wanted to hear all about their vulnerabilities and hear them cry I would become a bartender at their favorite hang-out. And I’m sorry, but maybe if Michelle changed her style ONCE she would be ok with critiquing the queens, but big hair and a boob top every single episode for years? Really? And you’re critiquing them?!

4. Santino, Yawn is he still there?

5. Guest Judges? They may have been interesting, who will ever know, Visage never shut up.

6. The girls. Adore was the only one who knew what a Banjee girl was, convenient since they needed her to stay, and nice that Bianca helped her, but she was fine and probably should have won the puppet challenge.

7. Bianca, I really used to like her but it’s just boring at this point.

8. Courtney, dry sense of humor, the looks were ok,

9. Ben, had no problem with it…

10. Darienne, Oh mother of god. Somebody please tell that naked redhead to shave her bush…what? That’s a dress?! No lip sync, she should have just gone.

Alex Gabriel

Am I the only one who’s just not getting the big breakthrough from Adore? I’m her biggest fan, but I thought her banjee girl look was just Adore-looking-charmingly-dime-store-as-usual, her executive realness was basic and her jewelled look was tacky and ill-fitting.

Cambel

They needed to overpraise it so people wouldn’t realize that what you just said is completely accurate!

DLJoe

To be fair everything on the runway was dull. Her banjee look was the only one on the runway that showed any personality out of 15 looks. It seems like she won for being the least humdrum.

Eduardo Velasquez

OMG, Darienne HAS to go. It’s painful to see her so far ahead in the game… She should’ve gone home WEEKS ago. I’m so over the drama, it would’ve been much more interesting to see DeLa in the top 4. Ugh, if you guys are over Courtney, I’m BEYOND over Darienne.

Carrie

AGREED. Darienne should have sashayed for that black trashbag coat and old-white-lady rap.

LongAl

The second Darienne walked out in that god-awful banjee girl look I thought that Jade Jolie had really let herself go.

Bottom two should have been Darienne and Courtney. Courtney because at least Honey Mahogany wore a full kaftan instead of half of one. Darienne because… well, Darienne. DeLa’s looks may not have been particularly groundbreaking but at least they were nice and I can give her that. Saying that I suppose Ru needs someone obvious to send off next week.

I would say that Ben is right on Bianca sailing through; although not out of complacency, she is just THAT DAMN GOOD. Bianca didn’t need to respond the way she did though; as much as I love her, I know she could have used her wit to her advantage to get some laughs while still getting her point across instead of being.. I dunno, pissy? I still think that Bianca deserves the title, but Adore did deserve that win though, if only for doing something that was unexpectedly good.

Also, for those who watched Untucked, Lola sounds like the most precious thing ever. ‘Roylady’ just had my cold heart melting.

hellkell

“Roylady” was so sweet I almost went into insulin shock. I must have gotten something in my eyes, because they were a little watery after that.

DLJoe

I didn’t mind seeing Ben leaving that much. For me the tossup for the last spot in the top 3 (the other 2 being Bianca and Adore) was always between Ben Courtney and Darienne. None of whom will win anyhow.

This was a disappointing episode in that there weren’t really any wow looks. Really the whole season has been light on the runway. And as much as I appreciate Ru showcasing personality and performance chops more, I wish we’d get some more creative and crazy looks on the runway again. April seemed like the only one who could’ve provided that.

Also I hope we get another season like 3 where they stacked the deck with some more big girls. Everyone loves a big drag queen and they’re usually so much fun. Just get Michelle off the damn panel so we can stop hearing her nitpicks against anyone who isn’t a size two 20 year old body queen (Alexis/Chad/Madam LaQueer/etc). That goes for Santino too. Please bring back Merle and add Billy B. to the panel.

Eric Stott

Not only does Bianca’s “Eleganza” look like everything else she’s worn, it doesn’t fit very well – an off the shoulder dress shouldn’t keep popping back ON to the shoulder as you walk.

In_Stitches

I just realized something…there hasn’t been a legitimate fashion moment yet this season. The two best seamstresses, Dela and Bianca have old, costume-y taste. I’m not against costumey, but when you pair with with old, it’s just kind of sad. That’s not what I really need out of drag race, so it’s not a big ish, but I could use some Detox or Raja eleganza.

Cambel

Tyra Sanchez gets mocked a lot, but if you look at her runway looks compared to say Bianca, even Tyra had more versatility.

Eric Stott

There was nothing much wrong with Tyra’s looks or style- but that is all she brought to the table.

demidaemon

Yep. She had the occasional performance moment, but she was way too serious and cranky otherwise. She didn’t have the lightness or quick wit that adds to the moment.

Cambel

Trust me, I’m not saying that Tyra should have won, but I’m just pointing out that in any other season Bianca would have been screamed at for never varying her look.

demidaemon

Oh, I agree that the runway has been a little static this season. Pretty much every past winner has had some variety in their presentation (whether Jinkx’s looks worked or not, she always brought something new to the runway in each incarnation). Trinity, Adore, and Joslyn have been the most interesting ( and two of them have been for the WTF/what was she thinking? effect) but everyone else has been pretty much the same. It’s the problem with having more established and experienced competitors–they know what is flattering on them, so they are less likely to take risks. And, when they do (see Darienne Lake), it is usually a hot mess.

This is also why I am leaning towards Adore as the winner, provided she is not eliminated at the last minute.

Tomek

I get the impression that when a reality TV judge like RU makes a decision that someone disagrees with, sometimes that person will yell “producer manipulation” like somehow the decision wasn’t authentic. I’m not saying that producers don’t have a say – but these competitions are pretty subjective. Maybe RU truly thinks Darienne was the better choice. I love Dela – but she feels one note to me. The showgirl thing gets old. Darienne is far from perfect, but I find her more interesting and feel like she offers more versatility. She still feels like she could surprise me. I don’t feel that way towards Dela. I’m not saying I’m right. I’m just saying if I was a judge, I would have kept Darienne – regardless of the backstage antics. People base their opinions on different things – and there are so many angles to look at. In the lip synch I could see Dela’s frustration behind her performance – and that killed it for me. Darienne was giving me some old school, Midwest drag, and I was loving it. I think people are factoring Darienne’s bitchyness into their opinion, and that would obviously send her home. Having said all that, team Bianca!

Cambel

You think Darienne is more versatile than Ben? Darienne not only wore the same green sequined top last night that she wore in the first challenge, but basically every single outfit for her is a sparkly top and black skirt.

Tomek

I do. I got the same dark showgirl vibe from Dela – where from Darienne I felt like she was giving me different characters. For example, when she did the Goth Mom for the wedding challenge, that surprised me, and I liked her take on it.

hellkell

I think Mama Ru wanted someone bitchy in the final four. Courtney, Adore, Bianca, and Ben would’ve gotten a long a little too well for reality tv.

Gabriel Balderrama

BenDeLaCreme was robbed. And Michelle Visage has had a pattern of aggressiveness and negativity towards Courtney week after week. Is she feeling that insecure and threatened because a boy is more beautiful than her? #jelly

Cambel

Michelle reminds me of those attention starved straight girls that hang out with their gay guy friends and try to sabotage any of their relationships so there will never be anything to take attention away from her. It’s difficult to even watch the show when she’s onscreen now.

Gabriel Balderrama

I couldn’t agree more: you have just describe the ultimate fag hag.

Lyra Byrnes

I dunno, pigeons. It’s like Project Runway or any of these damn subjective competitions in which it’s “body of work” vs. “last thing you did,” depending on whether the judges or TPTB want you out. I love Dela–she’s versatile, polished and fun, and a hella cute boy–but Darienne turned it out on the lip-synch. And not flailing around turned it out, but she sold the song, whereas BeDeLa was selling her showgirl look. If it all came down to the LSFYL, it was all Darienne. The question is whether it came down to that, and why. Miz Lake (if you’re nasty) does not have Americans Top Drag Queen chops, but there is an argument to be made that she legit won that one.

That said, Courtney can go any old time. Her drag beauty is undeniable, but it’s like a certain kind of blond, smiley, genetic-female beauty. It gets real boring real fast. After KlausJosephineNomiBaker, we’ve seen nothing but yawns from her. Adore! Adore! Adore!

Cambel

Hard to judge the Lip Synch because it is so heavily edited.

demidaemon

True, but you can see clear moments there where Dela is struggling, paying too much attention to what Darienne is doing, etc., whereas Darienne is just performing. And, no matter what, RuPaul does make the last call here. Unlike other shows where there may be some interference, Ru does actually have the last say.

Synnamin

Darienne is driving me nuts, and she looked like a disco Teletubby in that “Banjee Girl” outfit. Seriously – if you want to be bitchy, fine, but learn to temper it so that you don’t come off as insecure. Bianca’s got the bitch-mama act down COLD.

Dela showed much more personality in the workroom and in the Untucked lounge than on the runway. It was the Minnie Mouse fashion show on stage. While this may be fun to watch in a Cabaret show there is just no “realness” about it. Nevertheless Darienne sucked more, and I felt her shanteing was to have some big girl in the final 4. And I guess Dela and Bianca were a bit too similar. They try to have a variety of styles in the top 3.

elzatelzabelz

Adore had the looks on the runway, thanks to some help from Bianca. But, the clear winner of the season for me is Bianca (LOVE her), she is consistently on the top, polished, fully realized, and hilarious. Adore had one good runway, but the past few weeks-eh…she’s just not quite there yet. Give her a few years though, and watch out!

e jerry powell

Can Shawn be just a tiny bit more naked, please?

Drunken Housewife

You should ask instead if he can come to your home. They should start a viewer competition for getting a visit in person from the Pit Crew.

I just feel like they’ve lost focus a tiny bit with the lip synch; I get that it’s supposed to be their last chance to redeem themselves, but lately it’s like as soon as the music starts everything else is forgotten and ONLY the lip synch counts. When there’s this kind of disparity in performance in the challenge, a SLIGHTLY better lip synch shouldn’t be enough to save you. I feel like in terms of runway, Dela was a 6 (I loved her eleganza!) and Darienne was a 1, so to save herself she should have to pull out something on par with Dida’s lip synch against the Princess, for example, that would just skyrocket her to a 10. This was worth maybe an extra point or two, which would still put her below Dela and get her sent home. I feel like if they did it that way it would be way more fair, and someone who’s been lacklustre throughout the season shouldn’t be able to send girl after girl home just because her lip synch is good.

Cambel

I agree, also the Lip Synch would mean more if RuPaul actually explained why she liked one better than the other.

But the explanation would also lower the dramatic stakes, allow for more argument amongst fans that wouldn’t change anything, and honestly? I think that the point of the Lip Synch is that the performance has to speak for itself (and specifically speak to Ru and the Judges), which can be frustrating when a queen who can’t do anything else on a high level manages to defend herself from elimination, sometimes more than once. But I think that has to do less with the show’s format and more with queens on RuPaul using different skill-sets that can seem unfair in certain contexts. If the LSFYL is becoming a huge determining factor and that makes the performances stronger (which I think they have been this season) then I don’t really have a problem with it, it just means girls need to come to the show ready to lip synch for their muthafuckin’ lives.

True, it has always been that way to an extent, but I think the queens have elevated the caliber of lip synch since either of the early season showdowns you just mentioned. Neither of the matchups you mentioned registers on the level of Dida schooling the Princess, Alyssa and Coco’s epic Paula Abdul battle, or even Latrice and Tammie’s Ethel Merman lip synch on All Stars, and I think that’s true of a lot of the LSFYLs through the first two seasons. The energy and polish levels are just higher now because they know what is at stake upfront, I think. For awhile the lip synchs were high-energy but sloppy (Milan in Season 4 anyone?) and now more of the queens are starting to polish what they do for their lip synch.

demidaemon

True. But there was also Bebe versus Ongina in the first season, which is probably one of the best LSFYL of all time (and one with the most heartrending conclusion). Milan was a terrible lip syncher who either lucked out with her opponents or pulled off more feats rather than actual lip synching. One of the worst performers in that respect, I think. I actually think the battles were well done (maybe not always amazing, but polished and respectable) until season 4 and the streak of endless wig pulls. Latrice and Dida classed it up as quickly as possible, but then we got the streak of some of the worst lip synchs ever in the early episodes of season 5. I actually think it was the double elimination in that season that got every queen then and beyond to treat this part of the competition as seriously as it has been.

Cambel

But the problem is, you can tell who Ru is sending home because they won’t show them. The winner gets long shots and then it will flash for a second to the queen going home. Honestly what it looks like is that often the loser had a good lip sync but Ru and the producers don’t want the audience to see that so they won’t know that the person leaving was already chosen before the lip sync.

I had the pleasure of seeing Bendela live in Seattle a handful of times. Excellent performer, glad she made an impression here…but boooo to her being sent home.

Bradio311

It’s been Darienne’s time to go for awhile now. She’s yet to pull together any looks remotely interesting enough to back up her bitchy attitude — which is clearly trying to mask a shite ton of insecurity.

Cambel

How can you say that?! Don’t you think a sequined top and black skirt every single week is interesting!?

Rocío Vázquez

I think Ru left Darienne in the competition to see if it would stir up some drama.
She always leaves the girls everyone else seem to dislike.

Michelle Gennari

I cannot believe Darienne is still there. She is very sloppy. Not because she’s fat – but because her looks are sloppy. I love me some Latrice Royale – a big queen but NOT sloppy, ever. I would have preferred they left Ben in.

Cambel

And Delta Work also turned it out on the Runway.

Kelsey

Honestly, I didn’t love Darienne’s lipsync either. Oooh look, she can wiggle her fingers in front of her face. Impressive.

Maybe by that point I was just so over her and everything about her that I was desensitized to a good thing, but it sure didn’t feel great. I think Ben de la Creme should have stayed without a doubt.

understateddiva

Agreeing with Tlo that Adore absolutely should have won the puppet challenge – her Ben Dela Creme voice was EERILY accurate. As far as I’m concerned, she is the only queen left that is truly entertaining, at least in a TV star kind of way. And her final look in the main challenge was channeling Alaska, which is a HIGH compliment coming from me!

Cambel

Agreed, everybody has been going on about how Great Bianca is, and I agreed….until I re-watched old seasons and saw some of the queens who did NOT win. Raven, Manila, Alaska, Pandora, Willam, Shannel, etc… So much versatility and talent, I mean just looking at the different outfits those queens came up with each runway. Any other season they would have screamed at Bianca for wearing the same dress in different colors every week.

Jeremy Thomas Porta

Does anyone else stream the show on Logo the day after? Did you see those Trojan ecstasy commercials? I can’t help but feel uncomfortable seeing that. I feel like it’s some kind of colonization of gay media by straight culture.

Cambel

Unfortunately Drag Race is pretty much the only gay themed show on Logo anymore. Combine that with the fact that they have shows like “16 and Pregnant” and basically it’s more like One gay show is colonizing a channel designed for the Straight girlfriends of gay guys.

Jeremy Thomas Porta

I object to your phrasing there.

DJV

Giving credit where it’s due, Darienne is good at lip synching, BUT does that make up for everything else, especially a dress that looks as if it was inspired by a proposed vagina? Should have gone home weeks ago.

DJV

Oh and a note on Ru’s dress: Lacroix circa 1999. Not good. I hope I never see her in ruffles again.